Manny Ramirez, The Blowback

The obvious first question here is a simple one: Does Manny Ramirez have the prescription slip?

If his story is true, that his positive drugs test, the one that apparently will cost him 50 games, was the result of a prescription he received from a licensed physician, at least we’ll have something to pursue. In fact, we’ll have a lot to pursue.

What’s the drug? Why would it trigger a positive test? Is the doctor legitimate? Does the doctor have a history beyond legal and medically defensible prescriptions? Can Ramirez convince anyone that he is simply a dupe?

And if all those stories pass muster, what about J.C. Romero, the Phillies pitcher who is suing a supplement company for failing to identify a substance he took that triggered a positive test that did cost him 50 games? Is there really separate justice to be allowed for different victims?

That’s the dichotomy. People demanded that baseball get tougher with its drugs policy, and so it did, at least to an extent. Lots of players got caught, and a few, like Romero and now Ramirez, claim they are victims. Romero did his half-a-hundred, so logic suggests that Ramirez has to do his half-a-hundred too.

And if the result is that ballplayers take much greater care in what they take, then that is in and of itself is a good thing. Every drug and vitamin taker should do the best they can to make sure that what they are taking is legitimate and therapeutic.

On the other hand, if Ramirez’s story doesn’t jibe with the knowable facts, then hell will rain down upon him as it has with Alex Rodriguez. We are a vengeful sporting society when lied to, so Ramirez’s only P.R. hope, 50 games or no, is to be as forthright as possible the first time out.

Beyond that, we still know far too little either to anyone to comfortably condemn or exonerate Ramirez. ESPN’s early stance that Ramirez as a PED user is inconceivable cannot hold factually, because there are too few facts. Conversely, nobody can say, “Aha! Another cheater!” for the same reason.

Not that that will stop many folks, mind you. We are not only vengeful, but we are also world-class conclusion-jumpers.